


Impact Division

by Catsparrow



Series: The Avengers Nightmare Club [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Darcy and Jane are super best friends, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Movie Nights, Romance, cheering Darcy up, it got out of control, sorry there's more angst in this than I wanted, teeny tiny bit of smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 04:51:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3368522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsparrow/pseuds/Catsparrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Natasha is on a mission. She won't be back for a few days.” Clint says. He hops off the bench. “I have a bag of giant plastic bugs. I thought maybe we could fill all of the cabinets in the common room with them.”</p>
<p>Or Darcy starts a prank war because she's sad. </p>
<p>Or Bruce is terrible at feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impact Division

“I need all of the coffee.” Darcy mutters as she approaches the counter at the Starbucks.

The barista raises an eyebrow at her. “You'll have to narrow that down.”

“Soy vanilla latte, double shot please, a regular caramel latte and a soy chai.” 

 

Darcy fumbles in her bag for her wallet and stifles a yawn. The past few months have been exhausting, what with grad school and working close to full time at SI. Pepper had caught on to what an excellent organizer she was and had her assisting the records manager with redesigning the record-keeping system for all of the departments. It was great experience but Darcy is running on empty these days. She barely had time to see Bruce which was really depressing and uncool. Most of the time, she only saw him if they had spent the night in one of their apartments and even then it was only for a few brief minutes that they were actually awake in bed together since he lived in the lab almost 24/7 and she was tied up with grad school. But today was Friday. She'd her last final for the Spring semester the evening before and the record keeping project was finished. Today would be her first chance to go on a date with Bruce in like two months. She's not going to let anyone or anything fuck that up.

 

She hands the barista her Stark company card, mentally thanking Tony for thinking she is responsible enough for a company credit card, and digs her phone out of her pocket. There is a text from Jane and it's a picture of Bruce asleep on his lab bench drooling on a stack of files.

 

Darcy giggles, actually fucking giggles. Her boyfriend inspires her to giggle; it is truly sickening.

 

The barista hands back her card and Darcy texts Jane back:  _ leave Dr. McFluff I can handle it ; ) _

 

_Hey no sexy times in the lab._

 

_ I do what I want.  _ Since there isn't a line, Darcy orders three bagels with cream cheese and 5 minutes later enters Avengers tower, hopping on the elevator while balancing the drink tray. 

***

She walks into the lab to see Jane sticking neon post-it notes all over Bruce's back.

“Don't you have a rainbow bridge to work on or whatever?” Darcy teases as Jane makes grabby hands at the vanilla latte. “You're lucky I love you.” 

“You're my favorite ever, Darce.” 

Darcy directs her attention to her fast asleep boyfriend. “He should sleep somewhere more comfortable.”

“Probably.” Now on her way to being caffeinated once again, Jane scurries off to her part of the lab. 

“Bruce.” Darcy rubs his back and removes the post-it notes. “Desks are not for sleeping.”

Bruce opens one eye to peer up at her.

“Darcy?” He murmurs, lifting his head from his arm. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here. Also, someone had to come rescue you from uncomfortable sleeping positions.”

“Is it morning already? I think I slept down here.”

Darcy smiles. “You certainly did. I brought you some tea and food. Drink and eat and then bedtime for you, sir.”

“I have to work.” Bruce murmurs, pressing against Darcy's hand as she cards her fingers through his hair. 

“No, you have to sleep. Work can't happen without sleep.”

“Mmmm” Bruce closes his eyes. 

“Come on, off to bed with you! I want you well rested for our date tonight.” Darcy pats his shoulder. 

Bruce groans and stretches as he unfolds himself from his lab bench.

“I'll walk you to your room. I'm afraid you'll pass out in the hallway if I don't.” Darcy picks up his tea and food and links her arm with his.

They ride the elevator up to Bruce's floor and JARVIS unlocks the door for them. Darcy puts the food in the fridge and leaves the tea on the counter. Bruce stumbles to the bathroom to brush his teeth and change into pajamas. Darcy waits to make sure he isn't going to fall asleep standing up. When he emerges from the bathroom, Darcy leads him to the bed.

“Get some rest. I'll see you later, OK?”

Bruce nods and she leans down and kisses him on the forehead. Bruce catches her lips in a kiss as she pulls away. “Thanks, Darcy.”

“No problem, Dr. McFluff.”

He catches her hand in his and gives it a gentle squeeze. Darcy smiles, squeezing back and leaves him to sleep.

***

She is still smiling to herself when she returns to the lab a few minutes later. Tony is standing by Jane's lab bench, looking like he had slept on a desk last night too. They both quiet when Darcy joins them; staring at her like they had never seen her before.

“What's up with you guys? Did I grow an extra head or something?”

“Darcy Lewis, you are in love.” Jane announces. 

Darcy freezes. “What? You don't know my feelings. Only I know my feelings. My feelings are mine!”

She feels the blush spreading across her face and she is glad Bruce isn't down here to witness this conversation.

“You can't stop smiling whenever you see him and you are like anti smiling at boys.” Jane replies. 

“Boys are stupid. I smile at men all the time!”

Jane rolls her eyes. “I could name three men you broke just by giving them that famous Darcy Lewis death glare.”

Darcy sighs. “OK, maybe I have been thinking that I really, really like Bruce maybe possibly love him if you subscribe to that sort of thing but you can't say anything to him. I just... I don't want to scare him away.” Just naming the thought out loud makes her heart skip a beat.

Tony meets Darcy's eyes. “If you think for one second he doesn't love you back... I've seen the way he looks at you. He only ever looked even close to that when he was talking about Betty.”

Darcy shakes her head. “Please guys, I can't right now. I can't think about it or I'll blurt out my feelings in typical Darcy word vomit and he'll leave and I just...I don't want to think about that so can we not right now?”

Jane walks over and wraps her arms around her friend. “OK, Darce. I understand. I won't bring it up again but seriously, you guys are like equally nerdy over each other. I have a sense for these things.”

“Uh huh, Jane. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“You love me.” Jane declares with a smug grin and damnit, Darcy can't argue with that. 

***

 

Darcy spends the day assisting Jane in the lab. Friday's are her usual day off from classes and SI and with the semester finally over, Darcy has a little bit of actual free time and a break from homework until August when classes started again. Her internship starts in a week and she is glad for the break. 

Assisting Jane, especially on a Friday, usually means thinking up pranks to play on Tony (which without Bruce was slightly harder since he was the best at pranking Tony), speculating about what Thor was doing, and having loud dance parties for science. Which is how Jane and Darcy justify singing 90's and 00's pop songs while using beakers and test tubes as microphones. Tony criticizes their music choices and hisses every time he walks past their lab.

They are of course belting “You drive me crazy” (the original version, not the remix) to each other complete with dramatic hand gestures when Bruce enters the lab, hair curly and sticking up in every direction but dressed in new slightly less rumbled than usual clothes. He smiles at them and Darcy sings the last line in his direction as the song ends.

“Awww, I slept through the dance party.”

Sometimes Bruce could be persuaded to join them if they played any songs he liked. Darcy could never alter the sacred Darcy and Jane's badass science jams playlist without Jane's approval but throwing in a few songs for Bruce occasionally was alright. Mostly, Darcy just liked to hear him sing because he had a nice voice and he almost never sang around anyone.

“It was mostly Britney Spears if that makes you feel better.” Jane replies over the sound of “Sometimes” blasting out of the speakers. JARVIS turns it down and Darcy reaches out for Bruce's hand as he approaches Jane's lab table. 

Bruce laughs. He kisses Darcy's cheek and she sighs in contentment; resting her head against his shoulder.

“Sleep well?” Darcy asks. 

“Yes, I did. Thanks for tucking me in this morning.”

“Anytime. You're pretty cute when you're sleep deprived.”

Bruce blushes and Darcy grins. “Ready for our hot date?

Their hot date is going to consist of dinner at their favorite Japanese restaurant, probably taking a long walk through Central Park and then back for movie night. Darcy has fallen behind on movie nights with finals and grad school. She hasn't seen any of her favorite super hero friends in ages so she is looking forward to being back in the lab more and harassing Tony as much as possible before the fall semester started again.

“Definitely.” Bruce smiles shyly at her and Darcy can't help kissing his cheek. 

“See you later, Jane!” Darcy links her arm with Bruce's and they head out of the lab. 

“You crazy kids have fun!” Jane calls after them. 

Before heading out, they go to Darcy's suite to grab her jacket. Darcy retrieves it from her room and she turns, smiling at Bruce waiting near the door. He takes her hand as she walks up to him and pulls her against him, kissing her sweet and slow. They kiss for a few minutes, his hands on her waist and Darcy's arms draped over his shoulders, one hand playing with his curls.

They break for air and Darcy beams up at him. “We'll never get out of here if we keep this up.”

“I know.” Bruce kisses her again and Darcy obliges for a little while longer because hey she hasn't seen him in awhile and she likes kissing him a lot. Though, hunger is starting to win over touching Bruce. She can probably eat sushi and touch him too. If she sits really close to him. Darcy is beginning to think she is fucking out of her mind. 

Darcy reluctantly breaks off their kiss. “I am really enjoying this but if we don't leave soon, Tony is going to figure out you're still here and try to steal you away for science. And if he steals you away, I don't get to have dinner with you and talk to you and make out with you while everyone else watches movies later and that would make me super cranky and I'd probably have to murder Tony which I don't want to do because he's your friend. Also, murder is illegal last time I checked.”

Bruce laughs. “We can't have that. Besides after this week, I am not in the mood for science or Tony right now. I've missed you, Ms. Lewis.”

“Missed you too Dr. McFluff.”

And they leave the tower, hand in hand, for their date.

***

When they return after their dinner and stroll through Central Park, Darcy changes into pajamas because fuck wearing pants right now. If she and Bruce end up making out for twenty minutes before they go down to the movie, they don't have to tell.

The Avengers left the loveseat for them and Natasha passes them a bowl of garlic parmesan popcorn. Everyone greets Darcy enthusiastically. Steve hugs her and Clint reaches a hand up for a fist bump. Bucky too, surprisingly but he and Darcy have a weird accord. He spent a lot of time trying to teach her forties style dancing which was a lost cause on her. Sam smiles at her and Darcy feels her knees get a little weak because ok hey she really likes (ok loves) Bruce and Sam has two sexy, strong boyfriends but seriously his smile is a killer. Darcy has seen the effect Sam's smile has on Steve. Bucky, too. To be honest, all three of them are wrapped up tightly on each other's fingers. It's probably in the top ten most adorable things Darcy has ever seen and that list includes baby bunnies wearing sweaters.

Darcy joins Bruce on the loveseat, leaning her head against his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her waist.

Tony rolls his eyes at them. “Stop being so adorable; it makes me want to vomit.”

“I'll stop being adorable when you stop being annoying.” Darcy grins at him. 

“I think he's doomed then.” Bruce interjects. 

Darcy laughs and nuzzles his neck. Bruce strokes her hair. Darcy pulls the popcorn bowl closer, balancing it on Bruce's leg so they can both reach it.

She falls asleep about an hour into the movie. Bruce is not far after and Jane takes a picture of them asleep together.

***

 

The blissful seeing Bruce all the time period lasts barely three weeks. Darcy still has her 30 hour a week internship but without grad school homework and helping Pepper, she has a lot more free time. She usually is able to have lunch with Jane, Bruce, and Tony every day which is a good thing because she is pretty sure none of them would eat otherwise.

Darcy and Bruce are on their usual Friday night date, strolling through Central Park holding hands.

“So S.H.I.E.L.D. Has a job for me.” Bruce announces. 

“Really now?” Darcy is skeptical of any job they need Bruce for to be honest. S.H.I.E.L.D had a habit of dubious ethics. 

“They want me to go to Alaska. They are starting a research and development department there and they want me to get things started.” 

“Whoa, That sounds amazing! How long will you be gone?” Darcy asked, trying to sound casual. 

“I'm not sure. They said at least three weeks but it could end up being longer. I told them I would think about it.” 

Darcy swallows. “Really? It sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Bruce sighs. “I know. It's actually a real assignment that doesn't involve the other guy, you know.” some of his excitement leaks through and the warm feeling Bruce's excitement gave her wars with the stabby feeling in her heart at Bruce being gone for three weeks.

“But S.H.I.E.L.D, you know.”

Darcy squeezes his hand. “They can't disappear you anymore. Tony would throw a fit. Also, I am terrifying when I'm angry. I would make them wish they were facing the Other Guy.”

Bruce laughs. “I almost want to see that.”

“When would you leave?”

“Two weeks.”

Darcy groans. “I just got you back.”

“I know but one of the conditions to S.H.I.E.L.D getting the army off my back is that sometimes I have to do favors for them. This one at least isn't a violent one.”

Darcy nods. Of all of the things S.H.I.E.L.D could ask of Bruce, this was probably one of the best. At least at the end of the day, he wouldn't be adding another layer of guilt to the staggering pile he already possessed. Honestly, wasn't that worth feeling a little lonely for three weeks. Three weeks wasn't that long.

“You better skype me while you're gone.” 

“Don't worry. I'll install the internet connection first.”

They walk back to the tower. If Darcy sticks a little closer to him than usual for the next two weeks, he doesn't comment. 

***

 

 

The morning of Bruce's departure to Alaska, Darcy wakes up to Bruce pressing light kisses to her shoulder, his arms curling around her body. Darcy leans forward to kiss him on the mouth and the next thing she knows his mouth is between her legs. Darcy tangles her fingers in his hair. Her orgasm hits her like a truck and she's squirming and gasping underneath him. She murmurs his name over and over and he slides inside of her. Darcy wraps her legs around his waist and clings to him as sweet, warm pleasure bursts over her and she cries out. She feels his body shudder and the tension pulses out of him in waves. Darcy kisses him again, their bodies relaxing against each other.

 

“Gonna miss you so much.” Darcy whispers into his neck. 

“I'm going to miss you too.” 

They have sex twice more before Bruce can drag himself out of bed. They shower together and too fast, it's time for Bruce to leave.

“My car's downstairs.” Bruce announces, sliding his phone into his back pocket. 

“Alright, Dr. McFluff.” Darcy steps closer and he wraps his arms around her, squeezing her a little. 

“Don't burn down the lab while I'm gone.” He murmurs into her hair. 

“I'll do my best but I can't make any promises, especially with Tony and Jane around.”

“Bye, Darcy. I'll miss you.”

“Miss you too. Love you.” Darcy reluctantly lets him go and he picks up his bag. “I'll call, I promise.” He heads down to the car. 

It isn't until later that Darcy realizes he never said I love you back.

 

***

Darcy is not going to mope. She is a strong, independent woman who doesn't need a boyfriend around to feel happy. She does not need to be surrounded by people all the time. And that is true, Darcy likes her alone time, is used to a lot of it in fact. But at the same time, being with Bruce is easy and pretty nice; almost like being with Jane except with far less Spice Girls and a lot more kissing which isn't an awful trade off even though Darcy really likes the Spice Girls because come on.

It's not like she isn't occupied with her internship and helping Jane. She's pretty busy but the strange ache she is carrying around is new and annoying.

It's only been a week and Darcy is baking for movie night with Jane for company and feeling way sadder about no Bruce than she anticipated. She's trying really hard to hide it and get excited about that nights movie, Kill Bill. (Clint's pick).

“It's OK to miss your boyfriend, Darcy. I mean, have you met me?” Jane says as she licks raw cookie dough off a spoon while Darcy puts a baking sheet of dough in the oven. 

Darcy sighs. “I know it's OK. I just feel stupid moping around.”

“Well, Bruce probably feels stupid in Alaska too.”

“Shut up, Bruce probably never feels stupid.”

Jane laughs. “I would bet against you on that.” She passes Darcy a spoon and Darcy takes it, licking a stray chocolate chip off.

“Besides, you've already got one week down, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose you're right.”

***

 

 

After two weeks, she gets a static skype call from Bruce. She'd just returned from her internship about to collapse face down on her bed when the call comes through.

“Bruce!!!” Darcy yells, loud enough that Bruce winces but he was smiling. 

“Darcy, how are you?”

“I'm good. I miss you.” Darcy blurts out but whatever, she's never one to hide her feelings. 

Bruce's smile softens. “I miss you too.”

“How's it going there? Have you whipped all of the newbies into shape?”

“Really well! I don't have to do too much whipping. Everybody’s focused and pretty self-directed but they are well on their way to doing some significant work.”

Darcy listens to Bruce go on about the lab and S.H.I.E.L.D's resources and she feels such an incredible fondness that it's painful.

“So how's everything going with you? Have you killed Tony yet?”

“Alright. Tony lives as of today. He's hanging by a thread though.”

Bruce chuckled. “He usually is.”

“So dorkface when will you back next week?”

Bruce looks guilty and Darcy feels a slight dread.

“So I wanted to tell you, they need me to stay a little longer.”

Darcy swallows. “How much longer?”

“Just an additional two or three weeks, just to make sure everything runs smoothly. There are still a few scientists on their way here. Also, we brainstormed some exciting projects and they want to get those started as well.”

“Well, I guess you can't risk saying no to S.H.I.E.L.D. They might kill you.” Darcy jokes. 

“I'll be back soon. I'm sure it won't take longer than that to get things settled.”

“Alright, Bruce. I miss you.”

“Miss you too.” 

***

Darcy is surprised by the number of people who try to cheer her up. It actually warms her heart that so many superheros and assassins care about her feelings. Steve invites her to an exhibit at MoMA and they get coffee afterwards at her favorite local coffee shop. Clint attempts to teach her archery one afternoon which she fails at but it's a good distraction. Natasha keeps up with their self-defense lessons but also starts giving her and Steve joint dance lessons. Clint joins them and Darcy finds she's alright at it.

Jane is probably the most pro-active in operation cheer up Darcy. They buy a bunch of groupons to local restaurants and classes and museums. This serves to help Jane in not feeling sad about Thor since he is gone half the time anyway.

The internship takes up a lot of time and Darcy is glad she doesn't have to spend too much time in the lab. After another skype call from Bruce where he tells her he's going to have to stay another two weeks, the dread and worry really starts to settle in her stomach, as much as she tries to ignore it, tell herself she's being crazy, she's not always so sure anymore. She makes the mistake at the end of the call of saying I love you and Bruce didn't respond except for a goodnight as he hangs up. Her stomach hurts constantly.

 

After two and a half months, Darcy can say nighttime is hardest for her. She's gotten used to sleeping with Bruce's arm wrapped around her and his leg entwined with hers. Darcy finds herself down in the lab sitting on Bruce's lab table, feeling pathetic and tired and cranky. Tony wanders in and leans against the table next to her.

“Lab benches are not comfortable to sleep on, Lewis. I know this from experience.”

“Me too.” Darcy sighs. “I'm a pathetic loser.”

“I can name 7-9 people who would disagree with you.” 

“He's not coming back.” Saying it out loud is not fun. It makes her heart hurt. Darcy does her best not to look upset and fails. 

“If you really believe that then you aren't as smart as I thought you were.”

Darcy snorts. “You don't think I'm smart.”

“No sympathy for you, friend. Seriously, if you can't see how much that ridiculous dork loves you then maybe you need glasses.”

Darcy shakes her head. “He doesn't.”

“You know Stark Industries has an excellent vision plan. All designer frames are covered because seriously who wants to wear bargain styles.”

“Shut up Tony. I told him I loved him and he didn't say it back so I think that pretty much means he doesn't love me.” 

And then Darcy bursts into tears. She's spent the past two and a half months smiling and pretending so hard that she's OK it actually surprises her.

She expects Tony to leave her there or maybe awkwardly pat on her shoulder but he wraps his arms around her and Darcy gives up, crying into his shoulder. He rubs her back and Darcy can feel his breathe against her hair as he talks.

“You know, every time he skypes with me, he asks me how you are. He spends half of our conversation talking about you. Maybe he can't find the words yet but give him time, Darcy. He's going to come back this time, I know it. He's left before and if he were serious, he wouldn't be in contact with anyone here. He would have dropped off the face of the planet. Not even I could find him if he didn't want to be found.”

Darcy lets go of Tony, feeling a little awkward. “Ugh, I'm crying. I'm such an idiot.”

“It's OK, Darce. We've all cried over Bruce at some point in our lives.”

Darcy chokes out a laugh, swiping a tissue from the desk and wiping her eyes.

“Come on, we're watching Hot Fuzz tonight. Steve and Bucky have never seen it, can you believe that?”

“It's a national tragedy.” 

Tony slides off of the lab bench and waits for Darcy. She follows him to the elevator.

“Did you wipe your nose on my shirt?”

Darcy bats her eyelashes at him.

“Damnit, Lewis!”

***

 

Three months and five days since Bruce left and Darcy felt a concerning level of despondency and fear churning her stomach. Well, more accurately fear, anxiety, and a healthy portion of misplaced anger. Darcy couldn't always tell if that anger was directed more towards herself or Bruce. She surely was a moron for thinking that Bruce Banner would stick around after not one but two sudden declarations of love.

After yet another skype call where Bruce tells her he's going to have stay longer, Darcy can't take anymore. She grabs a bottle of wine and heads for Jane's suite.

“Jane!” Darcy knocks on her door. 

Jane answers the door and opens it wide enough to admit her.

“Hey Darcy! What's up?”

Darcy falls into her friend's arms and hugs her tight.

Jane staggers at little at the force of Darcy's embrace, wrapping her arms around Darcy and maneuvering her to the bed.

“What's the matter? Is everything OK?”

“He's not coming back. I fucked everything up.”

“No, you didn't. Did he say he wasn't coming back?”

Darcy takes a swig from the wine bottle. “No.... I mean not in so many words.”

“Darcy.” Jane puts on her 'you're being ridiculous' face.

“I said I loved him twice and he hasn't said it back. That means he basically hates me and is never coming back.” Darcy lifts the wine bottle again and Jane reaches out to take it.

“OK, I think that's enough wine for right now.” She puts the bottle out of Darcy's reach. “Darcy, speaking from a dorky scientist perspective, we have a hard time with non-science words, especially if those words are feelings. You know how long it took me to tell Thor I loved him.” Jane pats Darcy's shoulder. “Normally, I would say move on but seriously, give it time Darcy and at least talk to him about it when he comes back which he totally will because seriously, he's head over heels for you.”

Darcy leans her head against Jane's shoulder. “I feel like such an idiot. I hate the way I am lately. It's so embarrassing.”

Jane wraps an arm around her. “You're not an idiot. If you're an idiot, I'm an idiot for sure. I sleep with a giant body pillow that I pretend is Thor.”

“You can have the rest of the wine.” Darcy declares.

“Damn straight.” Jane takes a long swig and they watch all of their favorite movies on netflix until they fall asleep on Jane's bed.

***

 

 

It's Clint who eventually puts an end to Darcy's melancholy. Or rather, channels her melancholy into action. He pops into the lab through the ventilation system one day scaring the shit out of her as he drops to his feet less than three feet away from her.

“You know, I should be used to that by now between you and Natasha. You guys don't have sex up there, do you?”

“Nah, not enough space.” Clint pulls up a stool at Jane's lab bench which is currently Jane-less as she is filling out paperwork with Pepper for an upcoming conference. 

“How are you holding up kid?”

Darcy snorts.

“That good huh? Talked to Jolly Green lately?”

Darcy sighs. “A few days ago. He's got at least another three weeks. They still need him.”

Clint pats her arm. “Geniuses. Someone always needs them.”

It takes all of Darcy's self restraint to not follow that up with  _ But I need him _ because sure she likes having him around but she doesn't need him; she doesn't need anyone. Her argument sounds lamer in her head every day. She's a big ol' fraud. 

“Natasha is on a mission. She won't be back for a few days.” Clint says. He hops off the bench. “I have a bag of giant plastic bugs. I thought maybe we could fill all of the cabinets in the common room with them.”

So Darcy abandons the lab, goes upstairs and helps Clint fill every cabinet in the entire common space. After that, they fill balloons with water and glitter and drop them on people from up high; mostly new S.H.I.E.L.D. Recruits. They put whoopee cushions under all of the couch cushions. They retreat to the roof with sandwiches and scheme up new pranks together until well past the sun goes down.

 

It doesn't long for pranks to become Darcy's new hobby. They distract her from Bruce and the nauseating storm of feelings rolling around in her gut. She goes to her internship every day, works hard, and then comes back to the tower to drop confetti bombs, fill everyone's shoes with shaving cream, and program JARVIS to play nothing but Miley Cyrus songs in Tony's lab. Tony runs into Jane's lab screaming and pulling at his hair. Darcy pretends she has know idea what he's talking about.

 

It culminates in a tower wide nerf gun fight. Clint has a not-so-secret stash of nerf guns in his suite which he distributes among Team Assassin (Clint, Natasha, Bucky and honorary member Darcy) Tony immediately vetoes this saying those three are too dangerous together and no one else would have a chance. So it ends up being Clint and Darcy; Steve and Bucky; Natasha and Sam; and since Bruce and Thor aren't there; Tony and Jane pair up. Darcy is pretty sure they built their own version of a nerf gun instead of borrowing Clint's.

It starts innocently enough with all of them getting together for a game in one of Tony's giant gyms. It doesn't take long for it to progress into an all out war. The entire tower becomes fair game and at any time of the day or night, an avenger (or honorary avenger re: Darcy, Jane, Sam and Bucky.) could pop up out of nowhere and spray someone. Tony hangs a large dry erase board in the common room with an ongoing point tally.

When Darcy calls out of her internship pretending to be sick one day so she and Clint can hide in the air ducts and shoot people all day, she begins to think she has a problem. Thoughts of re-evaluating her life choices flee her head though when her and Clint manage to gain 50 points that day and pull into the lead.

 

After a month of escalating pranks, it culminates in an all over the tower final battle. Everyone fills their nerf guns with glitter water. For every hit, you get 10 points. Head shots are worth 25. Whoever had the most points in the end (it was every person for themselves at this point), gets to pick the movies for the next month. Darcy wants to subject all of them to Lindsay Lohan movies specifically Mean Girls, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Parent Trap, and Freaky Friday.

“You're going down, Stark!” Clint howls as he leaps around a corner and sprays him.

“Damnit, Barton!” Tony fires at him and Natasha drops down from the ceiling out of nowhere and gets both of them.

Darcy bursts out of the stairwell and fires at Natasha and gets her in the shoulder. “Yes!” Darcy punches the air and darts back through the door.

Natasha swears in Russian and runs through the door after her.

Between all eight of them, they break a lot of furniture. When they finally collapse after a solid day of chasing each other all over the tower, JARVIS counts up the points and declares Natasha as the winner with Clint and Bucky in second and third places respectively. Darcy comes in at a solid fourth and she feels pretty damn good about that. Sam is after her, then Steve, Tony, and lastly Jane.

They pile into the common room with takeout Indian food that JARVIS orders. They end up watching Parks and Rec for a few hours. Darcy falls asleep, curled around Jane on one side and Clint on the other. Natasha sits on the floor in front of Clint, leaning against his legs. Out of the corner of her eye, Darcy sees Clint's fingers in Natasha's hair gently massaging and Natasha's arm wrapped around Clint's leg. Steve, Sam, and Bucky take up another couch. Tony is joined by Pepper in an armchair and Pepper is fondly stroking his hair, her bare feet tucked under his legs.

When Darcy finally drags herself to a real bed (Jane's actually because she's taken to staying with Jane since both of them sleep better with someone else there), she hears Tony on the phone leaving a voicemail.

“There are three broken couches and a hole in my wall and it's not from me. This is an intervention Jade Jaws. Your skinny ass belongs here.”

***

 

It takes close to five months for him to come back. He'd said in his last skype conversation with her that he would be back sometime that week but it takes until Friday morning for Darcy to get the memo and since it's mid-terms she has about seventeen study groups and two huge research papers due. Friday is the only day no one has class and can meet so Darcy has a study group at 9 am in the library. Around 8:55 am as Darcy chugs her double shot vanilla soy latte (Damnit Jane for getting her addicted!), Darcy's phone vibrates in her bag and she doesn't pay it any attention.

Two hours later, Darcy is leaving the first study group to go to the second one scheduled for 11:30. She fishes her phone out of her bag to double check her messages and make sure she has the right place.

There are a flurry of text messages from Jane, Tony, Clint, Steve, Natasha and a few from Bruce. Plus two missed calls; one from Jane and one from Bruce with voicemails.

Darcy reads the ones from Bruce. “S.H.I.E.L.D freed me. I think Tony yelled a lot. I missed you, hope I can see you soon. <3.”

Conflicting choices of action flood Darcy's mind. One part of her wants to abandon her study group, call an incredibly expensive taxi that will not get her to Avengers Tower any faster than the subway would run into the building down to the lab where Bruce would inevitably be and attach herself to him like a barnacle for a week maybe two well realistically maybe a few hours since you know study groups all weekend and four mid-terms to take next week. Another part of her wants to follow the above plan until instead of attaching herself to Bruce, she slaps him in the face for making her a crazy person for the past four and a half months. Yet another part still wants to cry and another part wants to do a combination of all three. Instead, Darcy just double checks the study group location and heads over, doing her best to ignore her thundering heart. She has one more study group after the one she's heading to and then a paper writing party in the library, which is open 24/7 for mid-term week. For now, she just takes a deep breath and texts Jane back first.

“Thanks for letting me know. I don't know when I'll be back. I've got a shit load of school stuff.” Her hands shake and all she wants in that moment is to go back to the tiny box of a studio apartment she'd been living in before Tony Stark roped her into moving into his ridiculous monstrosity of a building and take a hot shower followed by a solid hour long cry wrapped up in blankets. 

“I know, hon. Can you make it for movie night?”

Darcy takes a deep breath. “Maybe. I'll see how much I get done before then.” She texts back and enters the building, heading over to the elevator.

Darcy doesn't bother listening to the voicemails right now. She needs to get back into study group mode as much as it pains her.

 

It's approaching three o'clock and Darcy's stomach is grumbling. She ate a granola bar and a banana around 11:15 but she's on her way to crashing if she doesn't eat soon. She has a two hour break before the paper writing paper and Darcy heads over to a nearby Panera. She gets a sandwich and a water and settles into a booth in the back. She finally looks at her text messages again.

'Girl, you've been busting your butt today. Come see your science nerd or I will drag you out of the library.” from Jane.

Darcy smiles and flips through the rest.

'Hey Lewis, you better come see my science bro today. I've had to put up with your moping for five months, you better appreciate the effort I put in to get him back here. I had to yell at Agent for like an hour.' From Tony of course.

“Darce, we're watching The Princess Bride tonight. You better be there to repeat all the words with me.' from Clint. 

'You better come, Clint's going to recite all the words.' Natasha.

'Hey Darcy, Dr. Banner came back today. I know you're busy but he sure missed you. I hope you have a chance to visit.” Steve and his never-ending manners.

And finally Darcy listens to Bruce's voicemail: “Darcy, I got back from Alaska today. I know you said you were busy with school stuff. I hope it's going well. I don't want to interrupt you if you're in a productive stream so I just thought if you had time this weekend, we could get together. I really missed you. Anyway, good luck with school and I'll hopefully see you soon. Love you, Darcy bye!”

 

Darcy is the world's biggest idiot.

“I'm the biggest idiot.” Darcy says outloud and a man turns around to look at her. 

“Don't be so hard on yourself.” He says and returns to his book. 

 

Darcy finishes her lunch and buys another coffee. She really needs the paper writing party if she plans to have any time to see Bruce at all that weekend. She's about halfway through the 15 page paper and if she can finish it that night, she feels pretty confident about her mid-terms. Though, she'd planned to spend Sunday studying for her 9am Monday mid-term.

She texts Jane first. “I'll do my best. Sadly, my hot friday night date is with an International affairs paper.”

She texts Bruce next. “Ugh, school is kicking my ass today! I really, really missed you too but my paper writing party calls. I'll be back tonight sometime, I'm not sure yet but I'll come see you. I'll text you before I leave. <3”

Her phone buzzes as she walks across campus. 'OK, I'll see you later. <3”

And from Jane. 'Fuck that paper.'

Darcy bursts out laughing and everyone on the street stares at her.

 

 

It's almost 10 when Darcy finally drags herself out of the library. Her body hurts and she's crashing from the seven coffees she drank all day. She did finish writing her paper though. All that's left is the bibliography which she is totally saving for the next morning. She's tempted to call a taxi but being a broke college student is way too ingrained in her to spend the extra money. She stumbles into the subway and remembers to text Bruce before getting on the train.

When she gets back to Avengers tower, JARVIS informs her that everyone is in the common room and Darcy takes the elevator, her anxiety coming back a little in spite of her exhaustion. She walks into the room which is noisy with everyone talking and eating popcorn and asking Bruce a million questions until she walks in and then everyone kind of stops and Darcy tries not to stare at her shoes like she's back in middle school and just walked in on Ashley Brinkley and Monica Bowers talking about her again in the girls bathroom.

“Hey.” Darcy waves and then Bruce abandons his conversation with Pepper and Tony and like legit runs over to her and hugs her tight and she raises her arms to hug him back. “I missed you so much.” he whispers in her ear. Darcy relaxes against him. “Missed you too, dork face.” He kisses her in front of everyone like he's usually too shy to do because he's not much for PDA. 

Darcy grins up at him. “You're back in time for movie night.”

“Of course, you said we were going to watch Princess Bride. I couldn't miss that. We waited for you.”

“Really? You guys didn't have to do that.” Darcy leans against him, reluctant to let go. Bruce rubs her back.

“We wanted to. We thought we could either do it tonight or have a Saturday movie night.” 

“Yeah, Darce. I'm not watching Princess Bride without you to recite all the words with me.”

Clint announces from the couch and Natasha whacks his arm.

“I love all of you but I think I'll have to watch it tomorrow night.” Darcy yawns. “I'm heading to bed.” 

“Goodnight, Darcy!” Superheroes wishing her goodnight. Darcy will never get used to it. She reluctantly extracts herself from Bruce's arms and catches his hand, curling her fingers through his. 

“Do you want to come with me? You can stay if you want.” Bruce shakes his head and follows her out. 

They go into the elevator and Darcy leans her head against Bruce's shoulder.

“Grad school is kicking my ass.” She yawns mid sentence and closes her eyes for a moment. 

“I don't know how you do it.”

Darcy snorts. “I'm sure you've been taking it slow in Alaska right? Dr. 96 hour lab marathon.”

Bruce leans his head against hers. “I missed you so much. I tried to leave sooner but S.H.I.E.L.D was determined. They would have kept me the rest of the year if Tony hadn't intervened.”

Darcy nuzzles his arm. “I'm glad he did. Don't tell him I said that.”

Bruce chuckles. “I won't.” He squeezes her hand. “Is it OK that I am coming with you? I really am tired too but I can go back to my room if you-”

Darcy lets go of his hand and reaches up to cup his face in her hands. “I swear to god Bruce, I love you but you make me crazy sometimes.” She presses a kiss against his lips. “I want you with me. I'm going to attach myself to you like an octopus for a little while and you're just going to have to deal with it.”

The elevator doors open and they go into Darcy's suite, which is a super huge mess because grad school.

“I'm taking a shower. Do you want to join me?” Darcy asks, tossing her clothes off on the way to the bathroom. 

“God yes.”

They get into the super huge Tony Stark sized luxury shower and Darcy turns the water up extra hot. Bruce grabs the shampoo and squeezes some onto Darcy's hair. He gently massages her hair, his fingertips pressing into her temples and the nape of her neck, the combined pressure and hot water easing her headache.

She leans against him, eyes closed in bliss. “Ugh, have you considered a second career as a hairdresser?”

“You're the only person whose hair I want to wash besides mine.”

Darcy hums in contentment. “Well, you're really good at it.”

“Thanks.”

After throughly sudsing her hair, he washes all of the soap out and presses a kiss to her forehead. Darcy returns the favor and washes his hair, her fingers gently running through his curls.

Then after quickly washing themselves, they step out of the shower and wrap up in extra large bath towels; brushing their teeth and changing into pajamas.

They climb into bed and Bruce pulls the covers up. Darcy snuggles into his arms, turning on her side to face him.

“I'm so glad you're back.” Darcy kisses him sweetly, taking her time and rubbing circles on his back. 

“Me too.” Bruce murmurs sleepily against her mouth and for the first time in what feels like forever, Darcy feels completely relaxed. 

“Goodnight, Bruce.” 

“Goodnight, Darcy.” 

She feels Bruce's breathing even out and they both fall into deep, dreamless sleep.

***

Darcy wakes the next morning, sunlight streaming into the room. Bruce's head is on her stomach and one of his hands is entwined with hers. She runs her fingers through his hair. Bruce makes a purring sound and nuzzles her stomach, his free hand rubbing circles on her belly and drifting closer to the waistband of her pajamas. He slips his hand down her pants, gently caressing her, avoiding her clit until Darcy squirms against his hand and he finally touches her. He barely presses and Darcy arches into his warm palm. He brings her off with his fingers and Darcy cries out, shaking apart in his arms.

When she recovers a little, she straddles Bruce's waist, his erection flush against his stomach. Darcy makes him come a few times until he's a warm, relaxed puddle of scientist underneath her. She curls up next to him and he puts his arms around her.

“What did I ever do in my life to deserve you?” 

Darcy laughs. “I don't know, it must have been helping all those children in India.”

“I did help a lot of children.” 

Bruce cups her cheek. “I'm sorry about being gone so long.”

“It's OK. You're an important scientist. They needed you. The world needs all of you and I knew what I was getting into when I decided to be in a relationship with a superhero.”

“Superhero is a bit of a strong word. I know the world needs the Avengers but as much as I can, I want to put our relationship first.”

“That's sweet of you to say, Bruce but it's fucking impossible to ever put our relationship over saving the world.” 

Bruce frowns at her. “Darcy, I...”

“No, please don't lie to me. I can't take it.” Darcy closes her eyes for a moment to stop the swell of tears building up behind her eyes. She will not fucking cry. 

Bruce stares at her for a moment before realization dawns on him. “You thought I wasn't coming back?”

Darcy is silent. She can't even look at him. She opens her mouth to speak but all that comes out is a strangled sob and then Bruce is wrapping his arms around her and she's bawling like a big old baby.

When Darcy calms down a little, Bruce speaks into her hair. “Oh Darce, I'm such an idiot! I'm so sorry. Being away from you made me realize how much you meant to me and when you said you loved me, I got a little scared. I was so afraid I was going to hurt you but I did that anyway didn't I?”

“I don't always have a filter for my feelings.” Darcy murmurs against his shirt. “I learned my lesson with most of my other boyfriends. I just haven't felt the way I feel about you for a long time. You make me feel so safe. I just didn't think about how it would make you feel when I just blurted out my feelings.” 

“Do you really mean that?” Bruce asks quietly, so quiet it takes Darcy a moment to realize he spoke.

“Of course.”

“I really make you feel safe?”

Darcy's heart broke a little at his uncertain time. “I always feel safe with you.”

Bruce moves so he can look Darcy in the eyes.

“Darcy, I promise I will never disappear on you. If I have to leave, I'll tell you. Honestly, after all of these years on the run, it's nice to have a home and a family. I don't want to run anymore, certainly not from you.” 

Bruce kisses her, sweet and slow. “I love you, Darcy Lewis. I love that you don't hide how you feel. You make it easier for me to talk with you about anything. You're fantastic and smart and funny and creative and beautiful. I'm so glad I met you.”

“I love you too, Bruce.” 

Darcy lays her head down on Bruce's shoulder. "So I heard you came in fourth in the Nerf War of 2014?" Bruce says, stroking her hair. 

"Fuck yeah, I did. I beat the shit out of Tony. I even shot Natasha once but I don't think she'll admit to it."

"I can't believe I missed it!"

"Next time don't go to Alaska, Dr. McFluff." 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Darcy and Jane's badass science jams playlist is coming soon promise. Also, I have two more parts in mind for this series. After that, I am open to suggestions I suppose. If anybody wants to see anything, I can take it under consideration. Disclaimer: I am awesome at fluff, humor, and angst but really quite horrible at smut. (dear cat why are you writing fan fiction if you don't like to write smut..? you are a confusing person. cat does fic wrong part 9 million.)


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